Page 51 of Gilded Kisses

I shudder at the foot of the bed where I remain, enjoying the show. With their pants and shirts out of the way, I’m left with a large swath of territory to drink in. The ink, the rippling muscle.

My eyes dip over hard abs and those sexy V’s a man has at their hips. And then I allow myself the most forbidden. My gaze falls another inch.

“Goddamn, you are perfect.” Okay, Jesus. I didn’t mean to say it like that, but every hard inch of their dripping cocks is perfection in the flesh.

Mirsha grunts first, appreciative of my bluntness, no doubt. The tug of humor at the edges of his mouth is the only hint he’s clearly happy I approve.

Luther and Viper emit low growls of their own. One minute they are my godfathers in compromising positions around me. Next all I see are three gorgeous men holding their engorged cocks and pre-cum glistening on the tips like candy for me to lick.

Angular bodies, rippling muscles and new ink. I don’t know where to let my eyes roam next. Viper’s namesake has some new color to it. The sapphire eyes are a lovely addition and match the shade of mine. I trail my finger over the inked details and follow the intricate scales all the way over his collarbone until my finger reaches the tip of the tail lazily dangling over the curve of his shoulder.

I continue to follow the tattoo. “Oh!” It curves to…I gasp lightly. To caress the underside of my breast. One his skin. I lean back for a better view.

Oh.Damn, that’s sexy. “Viper?”

“Do you like her?” he asks gruffly and the way his tone dips caresses my libido in just the right way.

Warmth spills into my veins as I look atmeintricately displayed over his right arm in a flurry of delicate lines and shades of warmskin tones. Roses in every color artfully hide the V of my legs, but my breasts and hard, rosy peaks are on full display.

“She’s beautiful. Me. I’m beautiful,” I stutter and lose the fight to keep the blush from overtaking my cheeks. I haul in another breath. “I am at a loss for words. I did not know you had such an excellent memory.”

“I couldn’t have you with me physically, so I made other arrangements. We all did, in our own way.”

He tips my chin toward Luther, who turns to show me a beautiful flourish of my name stretching across the expanse of his well-defined back. Swirls of black intertwine with the white flowers of jasmine.

Luther takes Mirsha’s left arm in hand and shows me a set of Roman numerals in black ink spanning the space between his elbow and wrist.

I reach out and trace each of the bold numerals.

“My birthday date.” My gaze climbs to find his.

“Show her the other.”

Mirsha holds up his other arm to reveal another date, but I don’t recognize the meaning. “What date is that?”

“The day we walked away, baby girl. The day we had to put our hearts on the ground and bury the love we have for you.”

Mirsha puts his hands around the back of my neck and pulls me in until our foreheads connect. He caresses the pulse point on either side, the languid motions slow and settling. Like he is grounding me to the here and now while his words throw me back to that night.

“Why did you leave me? I offered you everything I had to give, and it wasn’t enough to make you want me. I would have run away with you.”

His chest expands and collapses several times before he answers and when he does, his words are rough. Like he has sandpaper for vocal cords.

“Your father. We are powerful. Our army of men is deep. But so is his, and the bloodshed would be catastrophic. You’re the youngest princess of the Constantine empire. And we are the outsiders. You don’t think he would go to the ends of the world to protect your honor?”

War. He’s talking about the innocent people my father would murder until he got his way.

“You were his friends, not outsiders.”

“We were not blood and to your father, that meant a certain boundary line was set from the day we met. And there are some friendships that come with silent stipulations. One accepted worldwide is ‘don’t touch the daughters’.”

Fair point. “I couldn’t live with myself if others died just so I could be with the men I love.”

Luther pushes my hair to the side on my left and Viper mimics the move on my right.

“We couldn’t risk you becoming a pawn in your father’s game to always come out on top,” Viper adds.

“We bid our time and now you are ours. As unplanned as it is, we are not giving you back. You left, he can’t blame us for that.” Luther takes my hand and places my open palm over his heart. “I hope your husband tries to take you from us.”

---